March Madness is the best sports spectacle of the year

[RF2044]

...nothing better than the first week of tournament games!

But I don't feel as engaged this year. SU has had such a lengthy drought from being in the postseason, it is frustrating. Need this nightmare to end.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

...nothing better than the first week of tournament games!

But I don't feel as engaged this year. SU has had such a lengthy drought from being in the postseason, it is frustrating. Need this nightmare to end.

Agreed.

Not nearly as engaged in the lead-up without us in the mix.

But once it starts, I am all-in whether we are in it or not.

 

[LAorange44]

You can always root for GMAC!!!!!

 

[cusefan88]

Without Cuse is stinks but I still love a 12/5 upset, double digit seeds to the Sweet 16 and hopefully a few OT games.

 

[RF2044]

Agreed.

Not nearly as engaged in the lead-up without us in the mix.

But once it starts, I am all-in whether we are in it or not.

It's the greatest spectacle / tournament across any sport, in my opinion.

There's just a little off the fastball when SU isn't playing. And now that we're going on 5 years...

 

[bballbeadle]

I ran a bracket for 20 years, Shrink Madness. We had a lot of fun. I stopped 5 years ago. I haven’t even looked at the brackets yet.

But I agree it is the greatest sports spectacle.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I ran a bracket for 20 years, Shrink Madness. We had a lot of fun. I stopped 5 years ago. I haven’t even looked at the brackets yet.

But I agree it is the greatest sports spectacle.

I've been running a bracket for over 40 years.

I'm at home taking care of my 97 year old father, and my brother has been working from home since Covid. Lots of people have lost interest since we suck.

Tough to run an office pool when nobody has an office anymore.

We used to get 75 people a year, now we're lucky to get half that many.

If anyone wants to donate $10 to the cause, send me a PM.

If can just get the pool over the hump, I'm sure the next coach can get us past the goal line.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

You can always root for GMAC!!!!!

Yup, need to latch onto certain teams. Siena and USF, of course. Maybe the Johnnies. I always root for Arizona and I decided I'm going to root for Florida for a repeat. And the other NY schools.

And there is always the debate of rooting for conference rivals. Duke has a chance. UNC could lose in the 1st round. Clemson is pretty easy to root for. Virginia could make some noise. SMU in the play in game. Quaddy and NC State in the play in game.

 

[DuxburyO]

Go Hofstra!!

Proves it wasn’t a fluke win

 

[shandeezy7]

 

[Orangezoo]

I’m glad we have our hopeful future coach to watch operate in the tournament and then root for upsets like ensuring UConn loses early etc.

Without that I probably wouldn’t watch this year after usually treating March weekends as long weekends year in year out.

 

[jncuse]

I just asked ChatGPT to simulate the NCAA Tournament.

They came up with a final 4 of Michigan, Arkanas, Duke, UConn.

With UConn beating Duke in the final.
Of course they are in the same region, so we don't need to worry about that national nightmare.

 

[Cuse99&01]

It sucks (downright depressing) Cuse isn't in the tournament, but I still think it is the best time of the year for sports.

On the bright side, I have tended to do better picking my bracket the past few years - as I don't have Syracuse winning it all (simply can't force myself to pick against them when they are in the tourney, regardless of seed).

 

[Scooch]

Thursday and Friday are the most fun sports days of the year. Two days with 12 hours each of pure drama.

SU being absent definitely puts a large dent in it. Not only have we not been involved for 5 years, we haven't had a vaguely reasonable chance of winning it in 12 years. You can at least dream on that when you're a 4 or 5 seed. Not when you're a 10 or 11.